The Keeper
by EdiblePoetry
Summary: The Keepers are a band of rejected immortals over whom Zeus has complete control. In order to keep them from gaining strength to rebel, he has given them a choice. Be bonded to a demigod for fifteen years, or be punished in Tartarus. Percy Jackson unwittingly finds himself intertwined in this ugly, dark side of the gods. Can he manage to save his loved ones from each other?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or any of its affiliated characters/themes.

Prologue: November 19th, London, 14 years ago.

When one's life is entangled in lies and conflict, their situation will slowly spiral downwards until an epiphany of some sort is reached. That is, to say, until they hit rock bottom. From this point, something in their lives must pivot in order to move forwards.  
Currently, Nox de la Morte was experiencing a predicament much of this sort.  
Nox stared at the bottle of sleeping pills in her hands. They were strong enough so that if she took all of them at once, she would die. She sat all alone in a concrete basement. She was cold. Her fingers were numb. She wondered if she would see her husband when she died. Even if she did, she doubted he would forgive her for killing herself.  
'Don't think of me badly,' she thought. 'You know I have to.'  
Nox hoped Erebus would understand. Part of her brain was screaming for her to be rational- she hadn't eaten or slept in days- but she would not allow herself to listen. It had to be done. She could not stand more of this torturous life.  
Her fingers were shaking so badly that it took three attempts to open the lid. She took a deep breath to keep calm- she could do this. She titled her head, ready to swallow.  
"You're not much good to anyone when you're dead, you know."  
Nox dropped the jar, the pills scattering all over the floor, and she cursed. The man had just appeared out of thin air, and Nox hated it when he did that.  
She glared at him with a conflicted mix of anger and guilt. "Stay out of my business," she hissed. "And don't pretend like you care, either."  
The man tilted his head to the side. His expression was serious, but his green eyes glittered with strange humor. " I have a job for you," he said. "But you don't have to take it if you'd prefer not. I'll just leave and let you go about your suicide in peace."  
Rage knotted in the pit of Nox's stomach, and she had to dig her fingernails into her palms to keep from screaming.  
"Get out," she growled. "I don't want your job, Poseidon."  
Poseidon walked slowly towards her until their noses were an inch away. His face was tanned and weathered, and his black hair was streaked with grey. "That's too bad," he said quietly. "Because this time, there are two."  
Nox gaped at him. Twins were very rare among demigods. Considering the situation between Poseidon and his brothers, twins could be very, very bad.  
" I... I could not keep them both." She finally choked out.  
" No," agreed Poseidon. " I would not expect you to. You would only receive the girl. The boy already has a protector."  
Nox bit her lip. This news could change everything. But then again... She studied the pills on the ground and sighed. 'I'm sorry Erebus,' she thought. 'But this is more important.'  
She turned to Poseidon. "I accept," she said miserably.  
Poseidon smiled. "Excellent. I will deliver the girl as soon as possible." He turned to leave, but then seemed to think better of it. "Oh, and Nox-" he added. "Try to keep her alive this time, please. We wouldn't want any... Accidents."  
The air in the room turned considerably colder. Nox paled. "Of c-course, sir." She stammered.  
Poseidon nodded at her, his emerald eyes glittering with that near sinister light. "Until we meet again," he said, and as he vanished, Nox released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.  
Nox shakily knelt on the ground, trying to steady her breathing. If she failed- 'No,' she promised herself. She could not afford to fail again. Nox stared at the empty pill bottle. She had been separated from Erebus for over five centuries. She could wait another fifteen years.


	2. Chapter 1

Act I

Chapter 1- The Set Up

~14 years later~

The sky was grey and listless as Amaranthos Grimetooth stepped onto the street. Sleet and rain had plagued London for the last three months. The weather was as overcast and foreboding as Amaranthos' mood.

She had never been a particularly happy creature. Even as a small child, the household maids had whispered about her complete apathy to anything and everything. Her stature was slender and graceful, and her face had a timeless beauty to it- so much so that it seemed a little unreal. But despite her general lack of expression, her eyes were cold with intelligence. She had the mannerisms of a noble young lady, but she would gut her own father like a pig if she thought she could learn anything from it.

Her heels clicked upon the glistening cobblestone. Pedestrians in raincoats hurried past her, their eyes carefully focused on the ground. Such was the gravity around Amaranthos that made anyone who looked at her suddenly need to avert their eyes. Amaranthos didn't mind. In fact, she found it immensely satisfying to see their forms trembling like fearful mice. It was only right that they would fear her. She was powerful beyond their wildest dreams.

She felt a raindrop on her wrist. She narrowed her eyes. Couldn't the rain wait until after she was indoors? Curse the professor for refusing to bring the car around. She was not made for physical exertion like this. Muttering to herself, she rounded the corner and made her way up the flight of stairs that lead to the red polished door. She knocked three times and waited. The rain was falling steadily now. Thank the gods the brick apartment had a porch covering. The sky was turning dark- evening was setting in, and the street lamps were turning on. After what seemed like an eternity, the red door opened just a crack. A raspy voice from within said, "Who is it?"

Amaranthos slipped the glove off her hand. A single black ratio of an eye was on the back. She held it out for the person within to see.

Immediately the voice changed, sounding more hostile now. "Password," it demanded.

"Tongue snips," said Amaranthos in a clipped voice. The door closed. Amaranthos could hear a chain rattle inside before it opened again. This time wide enough for her to slip through. Amaranthos pocketed her glove and retreated into the gloom beyond.

The inside was as welcoming as any abandoned slaughter house. Amaranthos passed by dark, fathomless doorways, that seemed to have been smashed into the walls of the corridor with a sledgehammer. The peeling wallpaper was grey and grimy, and the splintered floor was sparsely covered by a thread bare carpet. The chandeliers above were covered in cobwebs. Various doors had been firmly boarded up, as if to keep intruders out, or prisoners from breaking free.

Amaranthos took this all in with her usual flat expression. But she had to resist the urge to look over her shoulder. The creature that had answered the door had quickly disappeared into the shadows of the corner. Amaranthos barely had time to catch a glimpse of a grey, rotting, vaguely humanoid hand. She mentally slapped herself. She was in no danger. If It was following her, she would have heard it.

Even as she thought this however, she still felt uneasy. The professor had sent her here to do business, but had not cared to mention the name of the mysterious benefactor that awaited her.

The truth was, Amaranthos did not trust the professor. Though he was her mentor, her tutor, and her guardian, she could never quite shake the feeling that he was trying to kill her. Her hunch was not based off of paranoia, even if Amaranthos was infamous for her never ending suspicion of all living organisms around her. After experiencing varying 'accidents' since childhood, she had every right to distance herself from her care-taker.

Amaranthos stopped abruptly at the end of the hall. A large oak door loomed in front of her. This was it. If the door- keeper from earlier had any reason to harm her, now was the perfect opportunity for It to do so.

Upon thinking this, she immediately wished she hadn't.

In a moment of sheer terror, she let go of all self control, and glanced back down the hall. In the half-light, she could barely make out the front door. But nothing was there. She almost breathed a sigh of relief when she realized something.

Nothing. Was. There.

Panicked, her eyes skimmed the ground, the walls and the boarded doorways, but all with the same result; she was alone in the hall.

But no, she was not alone. Because just then, a horrible realization dawned on her.

She stood staring from whence she came, her heart pounding, and her hands shaking so badly she could hardly feel them. Slowly, she raised her eyes to the ceiling.

She screamed


End file.
